WOMEN'S BATTALION DEFENDS THE WINTER PALACE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 40, 10 November 1917, Page 7

WOMEN'S BATTALION DEFENDS THE WINTER PALACE

(ltec. November 10, 0.25 a.m.) Petrograd, November 9. Tho Maximalists liave occupied the Winter Palace, and also the premises of the General Staff. The former was defended by the Women's Battalion Cadets, who surrendered after fomo shots fired from the cruiser Aurora and the fortress of Peter and Paul on tho opposi to bank of the Neva, as well as firs from machine-guns in tho armoured cars cf tho Red Guards.—Router. NO BLOODSHED-SITUATION OBSCURE. (Rec, November 9, 11.20 p.m.) London, November 9. Eeuter's correspondent, cabling on November 7, 6ays: "Up to the present there has been no bloodshed; only a few minor street collisions. The situation is obscure."—Reuter. THE WOLF OUTSIDE Stockholm, November 8. A. telegram from Haparanda (in Sweden) states that a large German squadron 1$ cruising off Helsingfors (tho capital of I?inland).-Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. THE NEWS IN NEW ZEALAND STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER. A statement was made by the Prime Minister yesterday regarding the developments in Russia. "Regarding tho news contained in the most rocent telegram concerning the present position in Russia, and the statement regarding a separate peace," said Mr. Massey, "I can hardly say that I am surprised. Something of this character was to bo expected. A country in a stato of revolution cannot successfully carry on a war. i'or inis purpose a strong Government is required, aud judging by the present appearances Russia will not arrive at that stage for some considerable, time to come. Tho question is, How will the latest development effect tho war? In conjunction with recent events in Italy, it will probably have tho effect of prolonging the struggle, but although we cannot neln feeling disappointed, thero is no reason to feel discouraged. Dur Navy is 6till unbeaten, and retains the supremacy of the. sea. Good work is being done by our forces in Palestine; tho losses by submarines are decreasing; tho French and British forces i.re stoadilv driving the enemy back on tho Western front; the Americans aro coming in, and may e o on bo expected to mako their presence felt. We have much to be thankful for, and whatever happens we can. last longer than Germany. Tho fighting spirit of the British, that combination of courage and tenacity which has contributed to the success of our race on many vrevious occasions, is being thoroughly aroused all over the Empire, and as British citizens, always relying on Divine guidance, we shall, with our Allies, carry on to the end, and—conquer.

THE ORDEAL OF THE REVOLUTION As far back as June last, observers of tho progress of events in Russia emphasised two essential points in tho successful development of such a ■>evolution as tliat by which tho democracy of our Ally seeks to. secure constitutional rights and personal freedom, and by which France in an earlier decade accomplished here. These are time and "foico majeur." "It took France, one of the most intelligentand highly developed of nations, some seven years to bring a semblance of order and government out of the carnival of red revolutions," 6aid one writer. "From the fall of the Baa tile to the formation of the Director/ was covered a period of sisi.terriblo years, out of which eventually emerged Napoleon and finally the Eepubiic. Can we, then, reasonably expect a huge, illiterate nation sucll as Russia to do better? Indeed, if the signs are read correctly, Russia has just started on her revolutionary road, which is long and filled with pitfalls. Tho Socialistic workmen are driving Russia to rnin, says the dispatches, and one may well believe it. Their portion of the loaf was precious small under the Romanoffs, as was the people's portion under the kings of France. And now it has come about that the loaf has been passed on to the people, who, not being accustomed to full 6tomachs, are going to gorge themselves and become ill in tho process. Neglected fields and empty workshops must of necessity follow if the present headlong course of the Russians is persisted in. The workmen are not only demanding all the profits of the factories as wages, but a considerable portion of the invested as well. The power of tho workmen's committees is superseding the authority of the owners, while in the rural districts tho largo estates are being sacked and the lands divided up. Soldiers are piling homo from the front in the fear that if they remain with the Army (hoy will not get their share of the land and plunder. _ Under the circumstances, it is idle to expect any further from Russia. Tho people have simply got out of hand—a huge, ignorant population which is only a generation or two from serfdom; a people who as a whole have not yet learned to think for themselves, and who will not allow their intelligent leaders to do their thinking for them. . . . And as for th®_ present situation, all that can be said for it is that, so far as tho Allies go, it is no worse than the former one. Wo have merely traded trained duplicity for fatheaded peasant mismanagement. And now we must sit back and see them work out their o>vn salvation." A Dictator!hip Wanted. _ A frequent concomitant of revolutions, military dictatorship, was prophesied by the London "Outlook": "Experts in revolution might remember that their ideal event (the Russian revolution) is only a stage in transition, ami that what commonly follows is a military dictatorship. Our own led to tho military dictatorship of Cromwell. ■ That in France, after some half-dozen constitutional experiments, ended in the military dictatorship of Napoleon. On every upheaval in a Central or South-American State General Fulano rises supreme. It could not well happon otherwise. A revolution is the success of force against the established order, and tho most forcible party, the only organisation, the aimy, with its general, comes into its own. Having prated so incessantly about a figment they call militarism, the pacifists and pro-Germans are uiiable to recognise tho real thing at work beneath their eyes. Or is militarism welcome when it is dethroning emperors, and a horrible danger when it is beating the Germans ?"